hide (Hideto Matsumoto)

Calling hide just a "guitarist" honestly feels like an insult to me. The guy walked around with flaming red hair, draped in pink, looking like a beautiful alien who'd crash-landed in Yokosuka, and somehow made it look effortlessly cool instead of costume-y. That's the trick nobody else could pull off. And here's what gets me: under all that flash, he wrote songs like PINK SPIDER that hit with this aching, full-throttle rush. He shredded with X JAPAN, then went and picked a fight with the whole world solo and with zilch, fearless to the end. He left us way too soon at 33 back in '98, but somewhere there's always a fan in a tiny club still buzzing about the red-haired alien. That's the real legacy, and what a gift it was.

hide (born Hideto Matsumoto on December 13, 1964, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa) was a Japanese rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of X JAPAN. After joining X in 1987 at the invitation of YOSHIKI, he rose to prominence with the band's major debut and went on to launch a successful solo career in 1993, with his first solo album HIDE YOUR FACE reaching number one on the Oricon chart in 1994. He also formed the international band zilch and continued recording under the unit hide with Spread Beaver until his death on May 2, 1998, at the age of 33.

Name (English)

hide (Hideto Matsumoto)

Name (Japanese)

松本秀人

Reading

まつもとひでと

Born

December 13, 1964 – May 2, 1998

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Sagittarius / Dragon

Origin

Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan

Blood type

AB

Height

170 cm

Agency

Universal Music (estate management)

Agency history

Extasy Records (X era)

Active years

1981–1998

Occupation

Rock musician / Guitarist / Singer / Songwriter / Music producer

Elementary school

Yokosuka Municipal Tada Elementary School

Junior high

Yokosuka Municipal Tokiwa Junior High School

High school

Toshū Kaisei High School

University

Hollywood Beauty College (graduated)

Debut

Joined X (later X JAPAN) in 1987; solo debut in August 1993 with two simultaneous single releases

Awards & achievements

• 1989 Japan Gold Disc Award (as X JAPAN)
• 1994 Japan Gold Disc Award — Rock Album of the Year (HIDE YOUR FACE)
• 1998 MTV Video Music Awards — International Viewer's Choice Japan (PINK SPIDER music video)

Timeline

1. 1964Born on December 13 in Yokosuka, Kanagawa
2. 1981Formed the band SABER TIGER (later SAVER TIGER) while in high school
3. 1987Joined X (X JAPAN) as lead guitarist at the invitation of YOSHIKI after SAVER TIGER disbanded
4. 1989Made major debut with X JAPAN; first major album BLUE BLOOD released
5. 1993Solo debut with simultaneous release of singles EYES LOVE YOU and 50%&50%
6. 1994Released solo debut album HIDE YOUR FACE, which reached number one on the Oricon chart
7. 1996Released solo second album PSYENCE; formed international band zilch
8. 1997X JAPAN disbanded; continued activities as hide with Spread Beaver
9. 1998Released single ROCKET DIVE in January; died on May 2 at age 33

Spouse

Unmarried (publicly announced fiancée)

Siblings

Younger brother (publicly known)

Hobbies

• Guitar collecting
• Beauty and fashion

Specialties

• Guitar
• Drums
• Bass
• Composition and arrangement

• Official sitehttps://www.hide-city.com/
• Xhttps://x.com/hideofficial_20
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hide_(musician)
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/hide
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44315

Tags

• From Kanagawa
• Yokosuka
• X JAPAN
• Visual kei
• Rock guitarist
• hide with Spread Beaver
• zilch
• 1990s rock

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.